Deadline for NBA draft is coming up for Duke Basketball

There are a number of college teams that are trying to see if they are losing players to the NBA, and the deadline to declare for the draft is coming up this month. There are two players for Duke Basketball that might declare for the draft in Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood. These two players are good enough to play at the next level, but they could come back for one more season, hoping to finish on top instead of finishing on a disappointing note.

Parker is the college player who some scouts say is more ready for the NBA than any other college player. While this is true, will a player who won the state championship all four years in high school return to Durham after the disappointment of his freshman campaign? He is a great player and could potentially be the number one pick in the draft, but does he want to stay at Duke? Most of the players leaving college for the NBA are already coming out and declaring for the draft, letting their intentions be known to everyone. Parker has stayed relatively quiet this whole time. He can improve his game at the college level and, because they did have a disappointing end to the season, some people think he will stay for one more season.

Hood is the other player that could declare for the draft from Duke. He was very good most of the season, and could play at the next level as well. He wouldn’t be as high of a pick as Parker, but would be a first round pick and potentially a lottery pick. Hood could definitely benefit from coming back to college, but all reports indicate he is leaning towards declaring for the NBA. A bad outing in the NCAA tournament might hurt his draft stock, but if he performs well before the draft it could bounce back.

Duke will have a great team with or without these two players with Rasheed Sulaimon and Quinn Cook back, and with these two players alone they should be able to compete at a high level. They will also have Amile Jefferson and the incoming freshmen to next season’s team, and this will help make this team great for next season.

Besides the seniors for Duke, Parker and Hood are the only players Duke has to be worried about losing for next season. They should be fine even if both of these players do leave, but with them they will be one of the best teams in the country. The way things look now is that they will lose one of the two players to the NBA. It actually looks like Parker will be the one to stay at Duke for another year, and Hood could be the one to leave for the NBA draft. Either way Duke fans should feel encourage about next season.

About David Mullholand

I graduated from Bowling Green State University with a major in Sport Management. I love the game of basketball and a huge Duke Blue Devils fan.
You can follow me on twitter @isportsmullhod

dmin

How about the Natural. Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is the best player in baseball. In the big game, with his team trailing, the two batters in front of him get on base. They are at second and third. First base is open. Anyone in their right mind would walk him, even though it loads the bases, to face a less dangerous hitter (not to mention the better option of a double play). But nope, they pitch to Roy, he hits an expositive home run that literally knocks out a light in the stadium, and circles the bases with what looks like fireworks come off of the broken light. Great scene. Lousy baseball.

ScottPeceny

Not sure how this is relevant to this article, but anyway… I think Parker should go and Hood should stay. Jabari will be a top three pick and can’t pass that money up (injury risk always there). However, Hood would benefit from being the go-to guy for a year.